HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

HP OpenVMS DCL Dictionary

Format

CREATE filespec[,...]

Parameter

filespec[,...]

Specifies the name of one or more input files to be created. Wildcard
characters are not allowed. If you omit either the file name or the
file type, the CREATE command does not supply any defaults. The file
name or file type is null. If the specified file already exists, a new
version is created.

Description

The CREATE command creates a new sequential disk file. In interactive
mode, each separate line that you enter after you enter the command
line becomes a record in the newly created file. To terminate the file
input, press Ctrl/Z.

When you enter the CREATE command from a command procedure file, the
system reads all subsequent records in the command procedure file into
the new file until it encounters a dollar sign ($) in the first
position in a record. Terminate the file input with a line with a
dollar sign in column 1 (or with the end of the command procedure).

If you use an existing file specification with the CREATE command, the
newly created file has a higher version number than any existing files
with the same specification.

If you use the CREATE command to create a file in a logical name search
list, the file will only be created in the first directory produced by
the logical name translation.

Normally, the owner of the output file will be the same as the creator
of the output file. However, if a user with extended privileges creates
the output file, the owner will be the owner of the parent directory or
any previous versions of the output file.

Extended privileges include any of the following:

SYSPRV (system privilege) or BYPASS

System user identification codes (UICs)

GRPPRV (group privilege) if the owner of the parent directory (or
previous version of the output file) is in the same group as the
creator of the new output file

An identifier (with the resource attribute) representing the owner
of the parent directory (or previous version of the output file)

Qualifiers

/LOG

/NOLOG (default)

Displays the file specification of each new file created as the command
executes.

/PROTECTION=(ownership[:access][,...])

If you do not specify a value for each access category, or if you omit
the /PROTECTION qualifier, the CREATE command applies the following
protection for each unspecified category:

File Already Exists?

Protection Applied

Yes

Protection of the existing file

No

Current default protection

Note

If you attempt to create a file with no access, the file is created
with the system default RMS protection values. To create a file with no
access, use the SET SECURITY/PROTECTION command.

For more information on specifying protection codes, see the
HP OpenVMS Guide to System Security.

/SYMLINK="text"

Creates a symbolic link containing the specified text without the
enclosing quotation marks. If the created symbolic link is subsequently
encountered during any file-name processing, the contents of the
symbolic link are read and treated as a POSIX pathname specification.
No previous version of the symbolic link can exist.

If the path is absolute (that is, it starts with a slash character),
RMS attempts to translate its first field as a logical name.

/VOLUME=n

Places the file on the specified relative volume of a multivolume set.
By default, the file is placed arbitrarily in a multivolume set.

Examples

#1

$ CREATE MEET.TXT
John, Residents in the apartment complex will hold their annual
meeting this evening. We hope to see you there, Regards, Elwood
[Ctrl/Z]

The CREATE command in this example creates a text file named MEET.TXT
in your default directory. The text file MEET.TXT contains the lines
that follow until the Ctrl/Z.

#2

$ CREATE A.DAT, B.DAT
Input line one for A.DAT...
Input line two for A.DAT...
...[Ctrl/Z]
Input line one for B.DAT...
Input line two for B.DAT...
...[Ctrl/Z]
$

After you enter the CREATE command from the terminal, the system reads
input lines into the sequential file A.DAT until Ctrl/Z terminates the
first input. The next set of input data is placed in the second file,
B.DAT. Again, Ctrl/Z terminates the input.

In this example, the command procedure searches the default disk and
directory for the file MEET.TXT. If the command procedure determines
that the file does not exist, it creates a file named MEET.TXT using
the CREATE command.

In this example, DKA500 is an ODS-5 disk. If your process is set to
CASE_LOOKUP=SENSITIVE and you create more than one file with the same
name differing only in case, DCL treats subsequent files as new files
and lists them as such.